Mid West Today
The county has a high proportion of single-practice GPs.
Reasons for concern are raised in the General Practice in Ireland: An Analysis of Supply & Demand report, published this week.
The paper was produced by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) at the Department of Health.
Mayo, Leitrim and West Galway have also experienced high population growth so not only is there a risk of the GP workforce decreasing in the coming years, there is likely to also be high and growing service usage.
The small village of Mulranny has been without a permanent GP since the retirement of Dr Jerry Cowley in January 2024.
Since then, his patients—many of them elderly—have relied on locum cover.
Addressing why young doctors don’t see a future in rural practice, Dr. Cowley says that cuts to GP fees during the economic crash played a part, although they were reversed, while some supports were removed, including distance codes that meant rural GPs received higher fees for patients who lived far from the surgery.
Dr. Cowley has been giving more details to Midwest Radio’s Michael D. McAndrew.